


Short 20 - Mistaken Identity

by stgjr



Series: "The Power of a Name" Series 2 - "Time Lord Triumphant" [17]
Category: Burn Notice, Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005), Multi-Fandom
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Multiple Crossovers, Multiverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-12
Updated: 2017-04-12
Packaged: 2018-10-18 01:55:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10606884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stgjr/pseuds/stgjr
Summary: After sealing a Crack in the Multiverse in early-21st Century Miami, our narrator is mistaken for a kidnapper by a certain mojito-loving ex-Navy SEAL.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted on September 10th, 2014.

After picking Katherine up a couple of months after I had last left her home (for me it had only been a week, give or take thirty hours - time gets skiffy when you're tinkering) - I was doing some quick double-checking of a new piece I'd added to the TARDIS sensors. Katherine came out of the hallway linking to the bedrooms and skipped down the stairs. "Where to this time, Doctor?"  
  
"I was thinking the Verdant Isles of Kaliad," I replied. "Nice vacation spot. Well, provided we avoid the period during the Sith Occupation. Rather troublesome time for that nice world, I must say. I hope you brought your bathing suit."  
  
"I have a few, actually. I haven't even worn them. They don't work well for Tharkad."  
  
"Indeed not." I began hitting keys on the TARDIS sensors. "Before we go to soak up sun and enjoy some splendid tropical islands, I would like to test something first."  
  
"Oh? What is it?" She walked up to where I was looking at my screens, deciphering dimensional distortion data.  
  
"I am modifying the TARDIS to look for more Cracks. With scans of the ones I've seen so far I'm hoping to establish a rough position of others so we can seal them before they cause damage." I pointed at a blip on the screen. "There we are. Let's see if it's a false positive or not." I entered coordinates and pulled the TARDIS activation lever.  
  
After the usual _VWORP VWORP VWORP_ we stepped out into an alleyway. "Where are we?", Katherine asked, shedding her jacket. Her blouse was a yellow and red sleeveless type, more appropriate for the weather.  
  
"Miami," I answered as I brought out my sonics. "The year 2014. And here we are." I swung the sonic screwdriver over to the right. We followed along the abandoned warehouse until we saw it despite the glare of the sun. White light in a small crack, very small indeed. Not even half a foot long and maybe three centimeters in width. "Well, it's reacted to the TARDIS' presence and is starting to pull in trace amounts of thermal energy."  
  
"So what do we do, Doctor?"  
  
"We close it, of course. It'll only take a moment. Then we can head off to the Isles."  
  
"I don't know." She looked up at the sky. "It's rather warm here too, maybe we should spend some time at the coast?"  
  
"Ah, want to partake of the Florida sunshine, Katherine?" I shrugged. "I don't see why not." I felt the slightest irritation at the thought of being in Miami of all places, but I couldn't quite pin down why. At least at the time; in truth it was regional rivalry. Central Floridians don't always like South Florida, you know.  
  
"So, Katherine, here is what I need you to do..."  
  
  
  
  
I won't bother with the Crack closing because it was dull. Katherine knelt low, I held up the other device while standing by the regulator, and we sealed the thing in maybe twenty seconds. It was so simple it was boring. Yes, saving this world was boring. I guess that shows how much I was becoming jaded.  
  
When that was done I shifted us to one of the less exclusive beaches in Miami. Katherine went out in a semi-modest one-piece bathing suit and took to the sea. I stayed within visual range, at a cozy outside bar where I sampled the local drinks. I kept my eyes scanning the beach just to make sure Katherine was fine but that was the extent of my concentration. This was, after all, supposed to be relaxation.  
  
Naturally it couldn't last.  
  
My view of Katherine going out again was obscured by someone walking into my vision. He pulled a chair up. "Hello there. Is this seat taken?"  
  
That voice. That dress sense. That _chin_.  
  
The first thought in my head was _Oi, I'm going to be shot at, aren't I?_  
  
"It is not, although I would prefer to be alone," I responded, taking a drink.  
  
"Yes, well, we have business to discuss, mister..."  
  
"They call me the Doctor," I said, hoping that this wasn't going to be what it felt like.  
  
And of course, it was.  
  
"Interesting nickname. If you want to go by those, fine." The man in front of me was older, with stubble on his face and that impressive chin that was graying, although his hair was still jet black in color. "You can call me Chuck Finley."  
  
I tried not to grimace. The thoughts began swirling in my head. _Sam bloody Axe. And he must think I'm a contact or client or even target. This is going to be bloody irritating._  
  
"Hey, amigo, a mojito over here!", he called out to someone behind me, presumably the waiter. He eyed me again. "I'm here on behalf of Janet Hiller."  
  
"I'm afraid, sir, that you have the wrong gentleman," I answered softly. "I understand you Yanks mistake the accent a lot so there's no hard feelings."  
  
Sam didn't appear convinced. "I'm empowered to offer thirty thousand for the safe return of her son."  
  
Oh. Oh bloody good this was. A child kidnapping. And Sam Axe and, presumably, his associates thought _I_ was the kidnapper, or at least their negotiator. Can't a Time Lord ever just sit and enjoy the local drinks without everything going wrong?  
  
"Mister Finley, I assure you I have no bloody clue what you're going on about," I replied in a careful tone. "Best of luck to you and your client on getting her son back, but I think I will be going..."  
  
I went to stand up and felt a hand grab my shoulder. Had I truly resisted, even the person behind me couldn't have stopped me. But I felt the touch of a gun barrel to my side and let myself be forced back down. "Okay, you want to play it tough? We can play tough too." The voice gave it away even before I turned to see the man in sunglasses. His bald head and tanned complexion told me who this was.  
  
"Jesse, we're not going to need that. Are we... 'Doctor'?" Sam looked from him to me.  
  
"I have no bloody clue who this Hiller woman is, I just want to drink my pina colada in some peace!", I protested.  
  
Jesse Porter pushed the gun up enough that I thought it would jab my rib. "I don't like people who grab little kids from the playground," Jesse said in a low, threatening tone. "Now, are you going to stop playing dumb and give the kid back, or do I have to get rough?"  
  
I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Seriously, we're in a public place, you're going to shoot me _here_? I look at you and I _know_ you're not that incompetent."  
  
"He's got you there, Jesse," Sam said, sipping at his mojito.  
  
"Are you going to risk taking a bullet to the lung if you're wrong about me?", Jesse asked, ignoring his partner. "Because I'm not playing..." He jabbed the gun harder into my side. I gave him the grimace he'd expect.  
  
Before I could protest further Sam cleared his throat. "Uh, Jesse?"  
  
Jesse looked behind me and his expression shifted. I felt the gun pull away from my side. Curious, I looked back as well.  
  
A "gentleman" had entered the establishment, or rather had walked under the thatch covering that acted as shelter from the Florida sun. He was my height, at least, and clearly enjoyed the color blue in his wardrobe. Indeed, from a distance, i suppose he could look like me, if not for.... "Seriously?", I asked them, very offended. "Look at that fake grin! Look at that chin and jawline! Look at those poor excuses for cheekbones! I know I don't look that horrid. And you mistake me for _him_? What, did you see him in a dark room or something? Have one too many mojitos?! I'm bloody offended, I am!"  
  
And it wasn't all play-acting. Seriously, I looked much better than the "imposter", who scanned the area thoroughly. As he did so I marveled in how different we actually looked if you looked at our faces, even if our builds and fashion sense were depressingly similar. In my mind I could imagine a freeze frame of the kidnapping scumbag with the caption of "Kidnapping Scumbag" and "Not The Doctor" sliding in from off-screen.  
  
I watched the man walk up to a table where a young lady with ginger-colored hair was reading a menu without actually reading it. I could sense the terror and tension in her body language. She looked up at him and her face paled.  
  
"Yeah, uh, sorry pal," Sam said. He slid what was left of his mojito toward me. "The rest is on me." The two stood to their seats and headed over to where their isolated, terrified client was facing the man holding her son.  
  
I looked down the beach and saw Katherine standing on the sand, her golden blond hair disordered and wavy from the sea. Her eyes were focusing on where I was. I motioned to her to meet me over by a palm tree while I slipped my sonic screwdriver from my pocket and retrieved a small piece I installed into its base. I pushed that piece until it was secure in my left ear and, with surreptition, kept the screwdriver active and pointed toward the table.  
  
Yes, it was being used as a listening device. It's a _sonic_ screwdriver, remember?  
  
".... _price is now fifty thousand_ ," a voice growled over the speaker. I had to grudgingly admit that over a telephone it could sound a little like me. " _Or your little boy gets to meet a new daddy._ "  
  
At that point I was on my feet and walking toward Katherine.  
  
" _I don't have fifty thousand_ ," a soprano voice wept. " _Please._ "  
  
" _Not good enough._ "  
  
Sam's voice cut in. " _Now hold on here, pal..._ "  
  
"Oi, not good," I murmured as I came up to Katherine. She looked at me with bewilderment. "Katherine, quick glance behind me. See that man who looks like he could be me if you were a middle-aged ex-Navy SEAL who drinks too many mojitos?"  
  
After a moment's confusion, Katherine's brain quickly got into gear. "Um.... yes. Yes, I saw him, I thought he was you for a moment."  
  
I curled my cheeks in a look of confusion. "I'm hurt, he's far too ugly to be me," I grumbled. "Did you see what vehicle dropped him off?"  
  
"Oh... yes, it was a black one, one of the big ones like..." Her blue eyes scanned the nearby parking spaces. "Like that one over by the coffee shop."  
  
I followed where she was looking. She had the sense not to point. Even my eyesight couldn't beat the dark tinting of the windows, not at this distance. "Come along. We've stumbled into a bit of a kidnapping case here."  
  
  
  
We approached by a roundabout route, getting enough distance that I could no longer listen in on Team Axe-Porter trying to deal with the kidnapper. As we drew closer I could make the outlines of a man in the driver's seat. "I need a distraction," I whispered.  
  
"Of course, Doctor. What kind?"  
  
I raised an eyebrow. "Well, there are several kinds," she pointed out to me.  
  
Which of course meant she was bringing up the obvious one; she was a well-figured, beautiful, and still damp blonde who, even in 21st Century Miami, could manage to turn a few heads in a swimsuit that flattered her legs.  
  
And while some of you might think that's all right, using what she's got and all... you're all a bunch of bloody pervs! I met Katherine when she wasn't even to my knee! Sick pervs, the lot of you!  
  
"A more dignified one, I think."  
  
"Of course. Count how many times I wave my hands to see how many there are." Katherine raised her head up and walked toward the SUV while I went around the nearest car and approached it from the rear.  
  
By the time I was two cars away I saw her hand go up once. And just once. "You scratched my car!", she shrieked angrily.  
  
"I didn't scratch anyone's car!", an American voice protested. So our English kidnapper hired local. Hrm.  
  
Katherine put on a virtuoso act, making a scene big enough that a man with a captive child in the car would need to be careful not to draw attention. I slipped around the back of the car, avoiding the side mirrors' range as best as I could, and came up around the other side. I ran the sonic screwdriver over the lock and triggered it to unlock. The noise was audible... if Katherine hadn't been yelling her head off anyway. Opening the door was going to be a different issue, of course, so I did a life sign scan. A small one, good. And on my side.  
  
Oh well, here goes nothing.  
  
I pulled the door open as quickly as I could and pointed my sonic screwdriver inside. The brutish-looking driver turned his head toward me with a look of confusion and anger on his red face. Before he could react further I triggered my sonic to a narrow beam burst of, well, sonics. Katherine and the boy wouldn't hear it, but he damned well did, screaming and holding his ears. I probably damaged his eardrums with that. Not that I was sorry for it.  
  
The boy looked to be maybe four at the oldest. I extended a hand toward him as he looked at me with confusion and terror. Despite the suit and the voice I think he was realizing I was not his abductor. "Come on, my lad. Your mum's nearby, I've come to take you back to her."  
  
"You look like the bad man," he whimpered. "Who are you?"  
  
"I'm the Doctor. And I'm definitely not the bad man. He stole my fashion sense. And my accent."  
  
The boy moved over. His hair was the same tone as his mother's and I could see the other resemblances too. Once I had him in my arm I lifted him up and slammed the door. "Come along!"  
  
The thug got out of the car, having recovered enough to at least regain the rest of his senses. He held his gun up to shoot at us. He didn't ge the chance thanks to Katherine. She used her leg to hook around his shin and, proving yet again that leverage beats sheer mass most of the time, shifted his leg out from under him. Once he was going down she grabbed him by the hair at the back of his head and slammed his face into the SUV hood with enough force that I thought I saw blood on the black surface when I looked back. She ran up to join us. " _Hauptmann_ Leitner says I'm learning well," she said to me with a smile.  
  
"I thought I saw the Sam Vimes method of fighting there. Minus the Mrs. Goodbody special," I replied.  
  
Katherine blushed. "Well, looks like you've branched out. You're not rescuing a little girl this time."  
  
"Oh, variety is the spice of life."  
  
"What do we do now?", Katherine asked.  
  
"You hold this young lad..." I handed the Hiller boy to her. "And I go scout things out back at the restaurant."  
  
  
  
  
The party had relocated to inside the structure proper by this point. I made a quick glance around and noticed... yes, the employees were armed. Oh, brilliant. Well, not entirely brilliant, this kind of thing would be detected by the authorities the first time you used it. But if you're a callous would-be mastermind criminal, you might consider it worth a one-time use if it improves chances of a getaway from a tricky situation.  
  
The four were seated at a corner table. Miss Hiller was in tears and I suspected Jesse was moments away from pulling out that gun. Which would probably be bad. I spied nearby implements of use and, in a motion, grabbed a chair and plopped myself down between Sam and Miss Hiller, putting me across from the Kidnapping Scumbag. "Well well well, quite an interesting gathering," I said. I pointed to the Scumbag. "Seriously, you thought I was _him_?" I glared at Sam and then Jesse. "Honestly? Look at that chin. Look at my glorious cheekbones and my boyish looks. You honestly thought _I was him_?!"  
  
"Who the bloody hell are you?!", the Scumbag demanded.  
  
"Me? I'm the Doctor." I smirked. "And I don't take kindly to people who try to hurt children. And since these gentlemen have such poor eyesight and dragged me into this by thinking I was you, I've decided to get involved."  
  
"What the hell are you doing?", Jesse demanded bluntly.  
  
"Getting the rugrat killed, that's what." Scumbag pulled out his phone.  
  
"Oh, I don't think so. Black Ford Expedition. License plate R2L GD4." Scumbag scared daggers at me. I smirked. "Really quite a gas burner, isn't it? Hybrids are so much better at fuel efficiency, aren't they Mister Finley?"  
  
The woman gave Sam a curious look. Clearly she didn't know Sam's preferred alias.  
  
"The boy is safe with my friend. Your bodyguard will wake up with one hell of a headache, I'll add." I crossed my arms and quietly gripped my sonic screwdriver. "So, let's make a new deal. You give the nice lady back her money and stay away from her and her sweet little boy. Or I come back."  
  
Scumbag glowered. Seriously, they thought this two-bit thug looked like me?!  
  
"Don't be stupid. You've lost this round," I said in a low voice. "Be a smart businessman. Walk away."  
  
"Nobody gets in my way," he rasped, utterly warping his accent in a way painful to my ears. " _Nobody._ "  
  
Ah. So this is where things went wrong. I had a feeling I was going to get shot at.  
  
Scumbag stood up and put a hand into his jacket. As he did so, I saw that behind him the "bartender" and "waiters" were all reaching behind their belts too. I jumped to my feet. "Take cover!" I held the sonic screwdriver out and used a sonic burst to send Scumbag to the ground screaming, quite possibly with a busted eardrum.  
  
As soon as they saw the guns come out Sam and Jesse were moving. The table flipped over and Sam pulled their client into cover while Jesse moved to a second table to get cover from that. I joined Sam and the client behind the table as bullets flew overhead and struck the glass.  
  
"All right, _who in the hell are you?!_ " Sam demanded as glass shattered around us.  
  
"A passerby," I answered. "And don't blame me, you were the bloody blind idiot who thought I was him!"  
  
"Hey, i didn't get a good look last time, you dress just like him!", Sam protested.  
  
The glass pane had left us an opening into the street, if we could get cover from the firearms anyway. I looked over at the object I had spied earlier and knew to be useful. "I'll buy you time to get your client to safety. Take a left at the road here and go into the right alley, my friend is waiting with your client's little boy."  
  
The woman looked ready to tear up. Sam gave me a look. "The moment you pop out there they'll fill you with bullets.... what _is_ that?"  
  
"This?" I held up the sonic disruptor. "Top secret stuff. I'm something of an eccentric genius. Don't worry, I'll be fine, just keep yourselves safe.  
  
Sam let out a breath of exasperation. "Hey. The name's Sam Axe. Sorry for dragging you into this. Get us out and I owe you a whole bundle of mojitos."  
  
I offered my hand. "An honor, Mister Axe."  
  
He accepted the handshake while looking at the shattered glass, undoubtedly looking to see if he could get a reflection to determine where the shooters were. "And you are...?'  
  
I smiled. "I already told you. I'm the Doctor."  
  
And then, knowing when to make my exit, I spun out of cover and brought the sonic disruptor up. Sam and Jesse were opening fire from cover, buying me a critical moment to get to my feet and extend the sonic disruptor with Setting 42. Bullets bounced off of the protective field and hit the ground. As shooters dived for cover, mystified at not having hit me, I got to the object I needed.  
  
It was, of course, a fire extinguisher. A very handy invention, I must say.  
  
I grabbed it with one hand and gave it an underhanded toss that sent it back to the bar where the Scumbag and his shooters were gathering. As it hit the bar and bounced my sonic screwdriver came out of my sleeve and I triggered it, creating a thin beam of invisible energy that burst open the extinguisher. The chemicals inside exploded all over the gunmen, screams coming from behind the bar as they were covered in chemicals and broken metal. "Get out, now!", I shouted.  
  
Sam led the terrified Miss Hiller through the broken glass, Jesse following and ready to provide cover fire. I went out the front door again to give them an extra target. Bullets started to fly our way again as the least-injured gunman got back up. But he would be too late and, indeed, would have greater trouble given the sirens wailing in the distance.  
  
I arrived at the alleyway right before them. Katherine was kneeling over, trying to comfort the terrified little boy all alone with strangers. When his mother rounded the corner into the alley he looked at her and screamed "Mommy!" in childish joy. She screamed his name - Lewis, hrm - and got to her knees to grab hold of her lost child, weeping happily.  
  
Sam and Jesse stood beside her while Katherine stood beside me. "Not bad," Sam said. "If you want to stick around and see about doing this more often, we could use a new partner."  
  
"I imagine you could," I replied. "But Katherine and I have other places to be, sights to see."  
  
"Well, I hope you come back sometime. I still owe you a few mojitos."  
  
"Expect me when you see me, Mister Axe." I took Katherine's hand and turned. "Expect me when you see me."  
  
As we walked down the length of the alley, I heard Jesse call out, "Hey man, where are you going?!"  
  
"We're parked down here!", I called back. As we walked on I took out some sunglasses and checked the rear reflection with them. Sam and Jesse had left the alley with their happy client and her son. I brought my hand up and snapped my fingers. Ahead of us, the cloaked TARDIS appeared and opened its doors. "Well, my dear, that was an fun excursion, wasn't it?"  
  
"Quite delightful, Doctor," Katherine agreed. "I always enjoy getting to help like that." She took up her place across from me at the TARDIS controls as I started entering new coordinates. "Um, Doctor...?"  
  
I looked up and over to the door. Outside of the still-open door, Sam Axe had returned to the alley and was staring, wide-eyed, at the - to him - bizarre image of us inside the little box that was bigger on the inside. I grinned at him and waved. "Well now, it looks like I owe you a mojito too!" I gripped the TARDIS control and pulled it. "Tally ho!"  
  
As I snapped my fingers to have the doors close, I was just able to hear him muttering, "I need to cut back on the mojitos."  
  
  
  
  
We re-materialized in Miami, some months in the past of the last event. Now that I knew which cosmos we were in, I decided I wanted to observe an event and.... perhaps... see if I could influence it. We stepped out of the TARDIS a fair distance away from a small, unassuming suburban home. "Doctor, what's going on?", Katherine asked.  
  
"I wanted to see something," I replied. As we watched, a vehicle came to a stop a distance away and armed men moved toward the house. There they stopped. I reached out with my Time Lord senses and....  
  
....and...  
  
" _Damn_ ," I said, not keeping the disappointment out of my voice.  
  
"Doctor?"  
  
"It's a Fixed Point," I answered softly. "A powerful one. And too many witnesses, too much coming after this... I can't stop it."  
  
"Stop what?"  
  
I stepped back into the TARDIS and made sure the invisibility field was preventing people from seeing inside of it. And from there all I could do was watch. Watch the armed men as they waited for orders before finally, after several terrible minutes, they moved forward. The lead men went in the door. I forced my eyes to stay open as I felt tears come to them. "I'm sorry," I breathed.  
  
The front of the house exploded.  
  
Katherine's mouth hung open in shock. We kept watching and, soon enough, a figure emerged from the side. Despite the distance both of us recognized him as Jesse Porter, carrying a young boy about the same age as the one we had just rescued in the "future"... compared to this point, that is. "Doctor, what just happened?", Katherine asked.  
  
I closed the TARDIS door and stepped back toward the controls. "I had hoped to save that child's grandmother. She... she had to sacrifice herself. For the boy and his uncle. For her _boys_." I tried to wipe the tears from my eyes. "I wasn't smart enough. I'm a bloody _Time_ Lord and I'm still helpless to save people like that. She just wanted to raise her grandson in peace! And a bunch of bloody fanatics with guns made her do that! _And I couldn't stop it!_ "  
  
I slammed my hand on the TARDIS control and tried to control the raging frustration inside of me. It was such a dry argument to make, that preserving history was worth the deaths of people like that. I knew it was correct. But I hated it. I hated it to my very core.  
  
Katherine took my hand to turn me around before she put her arms around me. "You're a good man, Doctor, but even as a Time Lord you can only do so much. Please don't hurt yourself trying to do more."  
  
I nodded. "Thank you, Katherine." I used my fingers to grip her cheek so I could have her look up at me as I looked down at her, allowing our eyes to meet. "I don't know what I would have become if I had stayed alone."  
  
Katherine nodded. It looked like she went to speak, to ask something, but she stopped.  
  
I sighed and forced a smile across my face. I had an inkling of what I might have become if Katherine had not joined me. All alone like that, with my identity lost, with the frustration of balancing my duties as a Time Lord with my desires to help people and make history better....  
  
I would have become something terrible. Something more dangerous than any thread I had yet to face.  
  
I whispered a thanks to Katherine yet again and reached for the TARDIS lever to shift us away from that sad neighborhood. It was time to continue our adventure.


End file.
